Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Workout Insomnia!!! Waaahhhh!!!!!

**Caution, lots of Whiny, Woe-is-me Complaining Ahead**

Let me just say, I do NOT work out at night. If/when I do work out, it's at 11am. That's my best time. I've gotten the kids off to school, had breakfast, digested it for the most part, and I'm an hour away from lunch. In other words, Perfect Workout Time for me. Thing Four is pretty easy--I either have him in the workout room with me with an iPod to keep him busy, or I put a movie on for him, and I have a good hour to do whatever I need.

Hubby works out at night. Religiously. He comes home from work, scarfs down dinner, and at 9pm, after we tuck the kiddos in bed, he's on the treadmill or elliptical for a focused workout. He says it keeps the stress at bay, and is a great way to blow off steam. Fabulous for him, I say.

Except for one little hitch--we've started our weight training again (darn those New Year's resolutions!) and we have a pretty good rotation system where we do weights together. Problem is, the only time he can do weights, is yes, you guessed it, at NIGHT. And our routine is not some quick routine. It involves two repetitions each of four to five different exercises in a set (and we're talking two to three sets) then ab work. In other words, it takes a Long #&*!#!! Time! Usually about an hour. Since it's the new year, I committed to doing weight workouts with him, three times a week, and cardio on my own. Which means I get to work out with him on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

You can sense the complaints coming, I'm sure. Last night was the first night of our "night workouts." First off, we had church activities and Scouts (Thing Three earned his Bear, woo!) and by the time we pulled in to our garage, it was 8:30. The kids were still wound up, and when we finally got them in bed, it was 9:30. Hubby and I didn't start our workout until 9:45.

FREAKING 9:45.

I hate to admit it, but I whined a little. I complained a lot. And I even pouted a bit. Hubby wasn't having it. We were DOING THIS. So, we did, and finally, at 10:55, we were all finished.

Another inconvenient little hitch is I generally turn into a pumpkin after 10pm, lately. Maybe it's because I'm in my late 30's, or because I've always been more Morning Person than Night Person, but I was DEAD. And I was all sweaty and still had to stretch and it was going to be another half hour before I was all back to normal and cooled down. It was nearly midnight before we were in bed.

And then, I couldn't SLEEP. Hubby was asleep pretty quickly, but he is used to sleeping after a workout. I am not. I tossed, I turned, I huffed and puffed. No sleep. Finally, at 2am, I passed out, and then woke up at 4am with a headache. I've been up since. Can you say Z-O-M-B-I-E????

And I get to do this all again tomorrow night?

I think I'd rather drop a bowling ball on my big left toe. And I am SO not joking.

3 comments:

Devon Ellington said...

Everyone's metabolism is different, as are their biorhtyhms. It may be that your body does not respond well to night workouts. If you try to force it, it will get worse.

If, within three weeks, it's not settling in to something that feels good, stop doing it. There's no point in making yourself sick just because you two decided to work out together.

It releases stress for him and builds it for you - something that's detrimental to your well being is not something you should keep doing. Let him work out on his own, and you work out at 11 AM.

Yes, it's less together time, but you'll both be working out when it's right for your individual bodies, and that's the point of a workout -- to do what works best for YOU.

Michelle Miles said...

You poor thing. I have to agree with what Devon said. I'm not a night work out person either.

You're last line cracked me up though. Haha

Anonymous said...

9:45 pm!!!! Oh heck no! That's my reading in bed time.

I have to work out first thing in the morning. Get up, get coffee and get my butt on the elliptical.

If I don't do it then, then I won't do it at all.

Kudo's to him for keeping it up after a long day at work.